E-commerce group Sea and Orix Asia Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Orix, have co-led a $160m series D round for China-based credit assessment technology provider Wecash Technology.
Technology and trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG) also took part in the round, along with investment firm Sagamore Investments, fund manager Forebright Capital, private equity firm Lingfeng Capital and venture capital firm Hongdao Capital.
Founded in 2013, Wecash uses data mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to evaluate the creditworthiness of potential borrowers online. The service is utilised by financial services firms and lending platforms.
The company has moved into Southeast Asia and South America in the past two years and is looking to expand its technology into a membership-based lifestyle platform where services such as accommodation rental, consumer goods and cosmetic surgery can be accessed.
The round took the company’s overall funding to nearly $270m. SIG co-led its $80m series C round with China Merchants Venture Capital Management and Forebright Capital in April 2017, investing alongside Dongfang Hongdao Capital and Lingfeng Capital.
SIG led Wecash’s $20m series B round in 2015, the year after the company raised almost $10m in a series A round led by IDG Capital, the VC group that was then an affiliate of IT media company International Data Group.
The series D round marked the first corporate venturing investment by Sea since it went public in October 2017.
Formerly known as Garena, Sea had backed online restaurant listings platform Foody, beauty services marketplace Vanitee and e-grocer Redmart in 2015. It increased its stake in Foody to 82% in September 2017, after Redmart was acquired by Lazada in late 2016.